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RealCrowd review

Its sponsors are vetted and documentation is thorough, but only accredited investors can apply.

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How does RealCrowd work?

RealCrowd offers individual deals to accredited investors through a commercial real estate marketplace. Property sponsors are thoroughly vetted and must hold a proven track record of 10 years of principal-level operating experience and $50 million in transactional history.
Investors must certify their status as an accredited investor before investing. RealCrowd marketplace offerings include office, retail, multifamily and industrial properties. It’s free to create a RealCrowd account and there are no account management or platform fees.
A breakdown of the process:

  1. Create an account. Open an account for free from RealCrowd’s website.
  2. Select an investment. Browse the RealCrowd marketplace for available investment properties that match your investment goals.
  3. Create an investor profile. Streamline the investment process by prefilling the subscription documents through your investor profile.
  4. Get accredited. Complete the accreditation process with RealCrowd’s partner, VerifyInvestor.com.
  5. Sign documents. Review, sign and submit the subscription documents sent to your RealCrowd inbox.
  6. Fund your investment. Following the funding instructions supplied by the real estate company.
  7. Monitor investments. Track the progress of your investments from your RealCrowd account.

Who is RealCrowd best for?

RealCrowd’s online marketplace is ideal for:

  • Accredited investors. RealCrowd’s marketplace is geared toward accredited investors looking to diversify with commercial real estate.
  • Long-term investors. Since the average hold period for a RealCrowd investment is four years, investors must be comfortable letting their money sit.

The RealCrowd marketplace doesn’t house short-term, liquid investments. Property hold periods range from two to 10 years and investment minimums start at $25,000. Investors have four main investment types to choose from: Core, Core Plus, Value Add and Opportunistic. Listings are thoroughly documented, outfitted with property specs, sponsor details and comprehensive diligence reports.
Before signing up, investors should be prepared to lock in their investments for the full duration of the property’s hold period and must undergo an accreditation process with RealCrowd’s partner, VerifyInvestor.com.

Pricing and fees

Property sponsors must pay technology licensing and advertising fees to post property to the marketplace. On the other hand, investors pay nothing for platform access.

Platform fee$0
Minimum investment$25,000–$100,000
Average hold period4 years

Compared to its competitors, RealCrowd’s $25,000 investment minimum is steep. Other accredited-only platform platforms, like PeerStreet and RealtyMogul, let investors participate with $1,000 to $5,000. And platforms that allow access to nonaccredited investors — like Fundrise and DiversyFund — have investment minimums of $500 to $1,000.

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Property variety. RealCrowd’s commercial property portfolio is made up of office, retail, multifamily and industrial property.
  • Direct investment. Marketplace allows you to communicate directly with property sponsors.
  • No platform fees. You won’t pay any account management or platform fees.
  • No waiting period. Sign up for an account and start investing in the same day.
  • Vetted sponsors. Before a sponsor can advertise property on RealCrowd, they need to have at least 10 years of principal-level operating experience and $50 million in transactional history as principals.

Cons

  • High minimum investment. Investment minimums start at $25,000 — higher than other platforms.
  • Limited to accredited investors. You’ll need to be verified as an accredited investor before you can use RealCrowd’s platform.

RealCrowd reviews and complaints

As of October 2020, there’s no available feedback on the RealCrowd platform. It doesn’t have a Better Business Bureau or Trustpilot page and has no registered complaints with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Even among Redditors, the platform is mentioned in passing but little information about the investor experience is available.
While it’s not unheard of for a platform to have no customer feedback, it is unusual. This doesn’t necessarily mean you shouldn’t use RealCrowd — be diligent and carefully read any documentation you’re asked to review or sign during the application process.

How do I get started?

The signup process is simple and starts on the RealCrowd home page:

  1. Click Start investing.
  2. Enter your email address and create a password. Click Join now.

From here, browse available investments in the marketplace or build out your investment profile.

RealCrowd customer service

You can touch base with RealCrowd by:

  • Phone. Call 800-286-1602 and leave a message to set up a call with a RealCrowd rep.
  • Email. Send an email to info@realcrowd.com for a response from the support team.

Bottom line

RealCrowd offers access to a commercial real estate marketplace without platform fees. But its offerings are limited to accredited investors ready to invest at least $25,000.
If RealCrowd doesn’t sound like the right fit, explore your real estate investment options with other providers.

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Editor

Shannon Terrell is a lead writer and spokesperson at NerdWallet and a former editor at Finder, specializing in personal finance. Her writing and analysis on investing and banking has been featured in Bloomberg, Global News, Yahoo Finance, GoBankingRates and Black Enterprise. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communications and English literature from the University of Toronto Mississauga. See full bio

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has written 171 Finder guides across topics including:
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